10k: Black Beauty: 1977 Toyota Celica GT Liftback
The first generation Toyota Celica was built from 1970 through 1977 and sold in large quantities as a competitor to the bloated domestic muscle cars of the day. The Celica was the Japanese pony car to get back in the ’70s, and the liftback version resembled a 7/8ths scale Mustang. Find this 1977 Toyota Celica GT Liftback 5-spd for sale in New Castle, DE for $9,500 via ebay with a few hours to go.
This Celica GT liftback is extremely clean for a 36 year old classic and has a remarkably low 74k original miles. This car is a market leader and should sell for well above the average first generation Celica price.
Power comes from a 2.2 liter Toyota 20R engine that puts out 117 horsepower into a 5-speed manual gearbox and into the rear wheels via a solid rear axle. These cars are pretty basic, but that’s part of the appeal.
The interior looks to be in good condition – but no word on the crackedness (or not) of the dash under the cover. At least the genuine simu-wood looks intact!
This is likely all the money for a ’77 Celica in today’s market, but if the end goal is a showroom fresh Liftback the question to ask is: would you come out ahead by buying a basket case and dumping money into restoration, or buying this minter and enjoying it?
See a better liftback for less? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com
Wow. That looks shockingly original. Did these have alloys from the factory? They look like the ones I remember from the early 80's rounded Celicas.
How the hell did this end up at a Toyota dealership?
I hate to say it but for $9500 reserve not met yet I don't think I'd go for it.
Having sold Toyota's as new cars in 1977, I can tell you that those wheels are factory issue. The combination of those wheels and the black color was the hottest combo they had in 1977 for a Celica GT Fastback.
Thanks! I couldn't remember. I lusted over these when I was a kid but the memory banks are failing.
Dealer web site lists a "special" internet price of nearly $14K. No, that's not a joke. They are really asking $14K for this. While it has a lot of cool factor, I'd question spending half that.
As was the trend with most high demand, relatively low volume Japanese cars from the '70s offered by U.S. autodealers, the current price is $7K for the car, but an additional $7K for the dealer installed rear window sun shade and TrimLine installed pinstripes and sidemolding; and no..they don't come without the dealer added options.
Wow, that brings back some pretty ugly memories. I recall that sort of behavior too – all the pre-added crap (read: additional dealer profit) at an obnoxious premium. Because they could. And people bought their cars anyway. Because the American offerings at the time really did suck that badly.
You hit it on the head regarding the American cars. The Japanese cars (just like the current South Korean products) improved dramatically over a very short period of time, taking the Yen right with it. Fortunately (for them) their products improved at a faster rate than their currency's inflation (relative to the US$). From another perspective, the US economy's "stagflation" was almost the final nail in the coffin of the US Auto Industry.
did it sell??? how much?? anyone know???
I want one and have since 1977….but I choose the Mazda Rx7 GSL-SE cause I could never find one of these celicas…:(
I had one too, they looked nice very underpowered though.